Editorials

The Oregon Legislature has suspended through 2024 the requirement that students show proficiency in reading, writing and math — the aptly named “essential skills” — as a requirement for gettin…

June’s genuinely shocking heat wave wasn’t by itself proof of global warming, any more than one Texas blizzard disproves it. Single events are weather, not climate. And weather is perfectly ca…

The Oregon Legislature missed a chance to give the public better tools to hold the government accountable during disease outbreaks like the coronavirus pandemic.

Diving into annual salmon numbers tells us a lot about these iconic Pacific Northwest fish while raising complex and troubling questions.

Another season, another tragedy on the beach.

Last year, we wrote that the Class of 2020 “does not have an asterisk alongside it.”

Slates of candidates have emerged for the boards at Clatsop Community College and the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District in the May 18 election.

The biggest surprise about our regional housing shortage is that it took so long to fully materialize.

An overtime bill passed by the Washington Legislature gives producers time to adjust and protects them from backpay lawsuits set in motion by a recent state Supreme Court ruling.

Local experts connected in various ways with salmon fishing and conservation must be ready to blow a gasket over the Washington Legislature’s latest clumsy efforts to “help.”

In crafting his plan for the removal of the dams on the lower Snake River, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has managed to forge consensus between farm, shipping and environmental interests on…

The hatefulness and plundering that accompanied the internment of Japanese Americans 80 years ago is our region’s most notorious racist episode in recent times, though bias against Native Amer…

One year after Clatsop County recorded its first coronavirus case, we have learned a lot about epidemiology, risk and public perceptions about science and government.

March 11 marks the 10th anniversary of the historic Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which are still sending ripples across the Pacific in the form of heightened awareness and initiatives to i…

When fishermen encounter bad weather they wait out the blow, anchored in the cove or tied up at the harbor. They are survivors — they don’t take chances when Mother Nature becomes rough.

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners has adopted a strategic plan to guide policy priorities.

Life in Clatsop County is enriched by a large number of nonprofit organizations. Their impacts range across a wide spectrum, including health and human welfare, the performing arts, history, h…

It is time to right a deep and lingering injustice by formalizing federal legal status for Native American families whose ancestors lived around the mouth of the Columbia River for thousands o…

President Joe Biden has the opportunity for a reset on climate change and infrastructure.

Race is always with us in America. But the terms of our national discussion are constantly changing or evolving. It was said by historians that Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency in 2008 wa…

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, there was no coordinated federal approach on how to handle myriad elements of the crisis. It was left to governors, in conjunction with state legislatures, t…

When many people look back, 2020 will be remembered as the worst year of their lives.

It’s Christmas Eve and we want to wish all our readers, advertisers and staff a “Merry Christmas.”

There’s a commendable focus on racial, ethnic and gender diversity in appointments to the incoming Biden administration, while one characteristic goes unremarked and possibly neglected. That i…

Come with us on a virtual road trip. We’ll start in the Cascade Range near the Willamette Valley and head south on Interstate 5. We’ll stop in towns with names like Detroit, Gates, Blue River,…

Even as climate change deniers in the Trump administration were blocking a reckoning, a new coalition of farm groups and environmentalists was meeting secretly — building a 40-point climate pr…

It’s been said that newspapers are the first rough draft of history. But in many cases, they are the only draft of history. Unless a professional reporter writes down what happened, much of th…

Usually at this time of year, we publish an exhortation to vote.

We’d like to talk about a former secretary of state, Dennis Richardson, before we get into our endorsement of Shemia Fagan for that race in the November election.

Astoria reached a milestone this year by completing the Riverfront Vision Plan.

From police and fire, water and sewer, parks and land use, cities make critical decisions about our everyday lives.

Voters will weigh several statewide ballot measures in the November election.

An open seat in state House District 32 presents us with the most difficult choice on the November ballot.

The Second Amendment protects one of our most fundamental rights.

Many Americans view Congress solely through a partisan political lens, which is why the legislative branch of our government is often the least popular.

Presidential politics can seem distant in our small corner of the Pacific Northwest.

How many U.S. attorneys general can you name? A few Americans may remember Robert F. Kennedy served in his brother’s administration. Fewer may recall John Mitchell, who was eventually imprison…

Day care is essential for working families with small children. Its availability is one of those fundamental elements that makes a community’s economy strong or compromised.

The good news regarding the census is that we’re starting to see census takers walking around neighborhoods, knocking on doors to locate and count residents who didn’t respond to mailings or i…

American cities are divided between those that maintain infrastructure and those that don’t.

As legislators across the nation grapple with revenue shortfalls caused by the shutdown and curtailment of businesses in their states because of the coronavirus pandemic, we issue a plea.

Good news for Oregonians!

The post office is one of the marvels of America’s economy and culture.

Feeding America is a tough job, but farmers, ranchers, orchardists, fishermen, dairy operators and food processors rise to the occasion every day.

George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May forced all of us to examine our attitudes toward institutional racism.

While most people on the North Coast were preparing for the Fourth of July weekend, staff at the Clatsop County Public Health Department were scrambling to prevent another coronavirus outbreak…

It was a joy last week to report the sale of the Performing Arts Center.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; and they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the purs…

When fireworks are set off in dry dune grass, sometimes we luck out and nothing bad happens. More often, a fire starts but emergency responders get there fast and little damage is done. But th…

Like most everything else, education is set for transformation on a scale that was unimaginable half a year ago.

There is no asterisk required for the Class of 2020.